Summer of '46 Chapter 7
by M E Wofford
Summary: Sorry, the gremlins in the uploading continue. Here's chapter 7 of Summer of '46.


Sorry to continue in this vein but here's chapter 7 for Summer of '46 as a separate entry as the actual haunting of my story has not abated.

Summer of '46

-7-

McGee sat at his desk, an open file in front of him. Tony and Ziva came to stand behind him, looking over his shoulders, Ziva nibbling on a power bar and carrying a bottle of water. It was the best Tony could do from the vending machines. Ziva refused to leave the building for food without knowing what was in the file on Anna Stein.

"What ya got, Probie?" he asked McGee.

"Nothing I can put on the plasma, Tony. It's all paper. Sixty plus years ago is way before the Internet. The Army introduced ENIAC in 1946; the first computer."

McGee made it sound like he was talking about the beginning of time itself. Tony poked him hard in the shoulder.

"Just give with the ancient information."

"Anna Stein, born in 1920, graduated from nursing school in 1941. Joined the Navy in 1942. Exemplary record. Served in England, served on a hospital ship, came back to the States in 1945 and was assigned to Bethesda which had just opened. She didn't show up for her shift on November 1, 1946. Her supervisor reported her missing. The police investigated and found nothing. She was officially listed as missing believed deserted as of January 1, 1947. Here's a picture."

He gave Tony a faded black and white head shot. Ziva reached over and plucked it out of his hands so Tony moved closer to her so he could see too. A young woman in an ensign's dress blues with a white brimless cover looked back at him. Dark curls cut short framed her face under the cap. Her eyes were dark and slightly slanted like Ziva's. Even though she wasn't smiling her eyes seemed to glint with mischief.

"She's cute," he said.

"Yes," Ziva agreed. "She has a nice face."

McGee began typing.

"What ya doing, McAnnoying? Thought you said there was nothing to follow but the paper trail?"

"For the ensign, true. But she might still have living relatives, Tony."

"Oh. Good thinking, Probie. You have my permission to continue typing."

When he turned back to Ziva he saw Gibbs had joined them. He took the picture from Ziva.

"What you got, McGee?" Gibbs said.

"Anna Stein's parents were Abraham and Sara Stein. Both dead now. She had two brothers. One a captain in the Army, died in North Africa during the war and one younger. Looks like he grew up to become a lawyer. Married, had children, died in 2001. Stayed in the D.C./Virginia area his whole life. Uh, boss?"

"Yeah," Gibbs said.

"His daughter, Anna Stein Matz, lives in Silver Springs."

"What the hell are you waiting for then?"

All three of the junior agents jumped and went for their backpacks.

"Not you, Ziva."

She stopped and gave Gibbs a look. He glared back.

"You are off field duty for today, David. You continue following up the paper trail of our Ensign. You are not to leave this building except to go home and rest. Do YOU understand, Officer David?"

Ziva gave a short nod.

"Yes, Special Agent Gibbs," she spat. She threw her backpack toward her desk and sat down at Tim's desk in front of Anna Stein's file.

Gibbs continued to glare at her for a moment then turned to the two men.

"You still here?"

"We're gone, boss. You got the address, McGee? I'm driving, you navigate."

DiNozzo and McGee practically ran to the elevator.

###

Tim called ahead and spoke with Mrs. Matz so she'd expect them. It took them about 30 minutes to make the trip. They drove quietly for a few minutes and then Tim cleared his throat.

"You got something to say, McGee, spit it out."

Tim cleared his throat again and looked out his window.

"Well, Tony, Abby has this theory. Actually, we have this theory."

"And actually what is this theory you and Abby have?

"It's just a theory, Tony. I mean we're not sure or anything. You don't have to tell Gibbs this is what we think, you know? We're not really sure…"

"What the hell are you talking about, McGee? Quit hem-hawing around."

McGee cleared his throat for a third time. If he did it one more time DiNozzo was going to Gibbs slap him silly.

"Abby thinks…we think Ziva is possessed."

Tony took a moment to wrap his brain around that particular thought.

"Possessed? Like by a ghost? Like in GHOST with Whoopi Goldberg and Patrick Swayze where Whoopi kisses Demi Moore but it's really Patrick Swayze kissing her?"

Tim nodded.

"Yeah, kind of like…sure! I mean look at what's happened. She's drawn away by a screaming woman in a long abandoned house where the temperature is at least twenty degrees below what it should be. She falls into what amounts to an open pit getting knocked unconscious. When she wakes up the first thing she just happens to say is the name on the dog tag belonging to the skeleton we find next to her. Later on when she picks up the same dog tag in Abby's lab she seemingly forgets who she is, who we are and what's going on. The temperature again drops inside the lab where it should be constantly climate controlled. Then in Autopsy when Ducky shows you guys the baby skeleton she freaks out and starts crying. When does Ziva do that? And Gibbs complains about how cold it is everywhere he goes, which is everywhere Ziva has been. We think Ziva might be possessed by the ghost of Anna Stein."

Tony had to admit it all made some kind of strange creature-feature kind of sense. If he coupled it with what Ziva had told him in the elevator about feeling like something inside her was controlling her it positively frightened him. He shook himself; too many damned horror movies.

He looked over at McGee but didn't say anything. McGee stared back, looking worried. Tony was worried too. He wondered if he could find a rabbi who did exorcisms.


End file.
